November 2018 Newsletter

Slime in the Ice Machine – Watch for the January 2019 Issue

November is the month we all come together to see who will win the $200 Perfect Attendance prize and who will win the $100 Missed One Meeting Attendance prize. We also have a $200 cash prize for the person who submits the Nightmare of the Year. The nightmare must have happened within the current year and be something that was very unusual about a backflow tester’s experience with a backflow situation or an unusual repair situation. It is an award that is not necessarily awarded every year. These awards are held first after any training program and then the Yearly Raffle for all those who purchased tickets throughout the year.

August 2018 Newsletter

“The Liability Of In-House Fireline Backflow Testing”

Does a Backflow Prevention Assembly Tester License give the tester the authority to test backflow preventers on Firelines? Answer NO! To routinely test backflow prevention assemblies on Firelines, a tester must be a full time employee of a fireline contractor that has been approved by the State Fire Marshall’s Office. There is one exception we will discuss.

San Antonio Water System (SAWS)* developed one of the first Cross Connection Control Programs is this part of the United States. There were no training courses or backflow revention assembly testers available when we developed the program in the early 70’s.

October 2018 Newsletter

Another Home & Garden Show & Free Hands-On Class Has Come & Gone

The Home & Garden Show was another success, with Fred the peeing dog still making people turn heads and asking questions about backflow prevention and their irrigation systems. It is also an opportunity to educate the public about hose bib vacuum breakers that should be on all of their hose bibs, even if they don’t have an irrigation system.

Bac-Flo Unlimited has again provided the “Free Hands-On” this year to the chapter members who had earned at least 16 CEUs by attending chapter meetings and will need to renew their BPAT License before September 2019. This year they conducted the hands-on training in their new Training Building that was added earlier this year. Fred, Sandy (Fred’s wife, the Chief Chef), and Troy provided the usual Bar-B-Que beef with all the trimmings, including beans, potato salad, cold slaw, bread, carrot cake, and German chocolate cake.

July 2018 Newsletter

Why Do Backflow Preventers Need to be Tested Annually?

The current Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) requirement for residential irrigation systems is a double check (DC) backflow prevention assembly that is tested upon installation only. There are two issues that come to mind immediately regarding this requirement. The first is a DC backflow prevention assembly is a low hazard assembly and many of the irrigation systems today have chemical injection or are easily converted to chemical injection by the homeowner with parts from many of the Big Box Home Improvement stores. As soon as any injection system is added, the entire system becomes a high hazard system and then requires a Pressure Vacuum Breaker (PVB), a Spill-Resistant Pressure Vacuum Breaker (SVB), a Reduced Pressure Principal backflow assembly (RP), or an Air Gap (AG). The AG is generally not used because it requires water to be collected into an open tank through an AG, to be pressurized into the irrigation system with a pump. All of the backflow prevention assemblies, whether low hazard or high hazard, are mechanical assemblies, except the AG, which means they will fail at some time in the future.

September 2018 Newsletter

Very Important Information for Anyone Taking the Free Hands-On In 2021

The “Free Hands-On Class” starting in 2021 will have some new requirements that will affect all those members who plan on attending. Currently the only requirement is to be a member in good standing of either the San Antonio or the Central Texas Chapters of ABPA and have at least 16 CEUs earned by attending Chapter meetings. CEUs earned by attending repair seminars or ABPA Conferences are not included towards the required 16 CEUs for the “Free Hands-On Class”.

June 2018 Newsletter

The Test & Maintenance Report is a Legal Document

There are many misconceptions floating around about the duties and responsibilities of the licensed BPAT (Backflow Prevention Assembly Tester) and the proper completion of the T&M (Test & Maintenance) report. Let’s first look at the T&M report. TCEQ (Texas Commission on Environmental Quality) has provided a legal T&M report that may be used by any enforcement jurisdiction that has not obtained TCEQ approval for their specific T&M. Here is where there is misunderstanding by many testers in the industry. If an enforcement jurisdiction has their own T&M report, it will be the only report they may accept, regardless of any additional information they require on the report, such as a customer signature, etc. TCEQ approved it and it is that jurisdiction’s legal T&M document. An exception would be if an enforcement jurisdiction has a paper form, which has been approved by TCEQ and an on-line, or electronic submittal form, also approved be TCEQ, both forms are legal forms even if there are differences in the required information. Some enforcement jurisdictions may use outside electronic submittal companies such as Vepo, which also has TCEQ approval, to manage their T&M reports. Use the report or system for each jurisdiction.